Farms

The fertility of Ilia’s land is the hallmark of the “California of Greece” or “The Promised Land”. This comes due to its mild climate, identical amount of year rainfall, rich groundwater, its feeder rivers Alpheus and Peneus, and the amount of sunshine in most days of the year. Near those favorable factors should be added the great plains spanning at 1,570,000 acres.
These plains are who “nourished” the myth of Augeas. According to the myth, one of Hercules’ ten labors was to clean manure from Augeas’ cow houses. These stables had not been cleaned in over 30 years, and over 1,000 cattle lived there. However, Hercules succeeded by rerouting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to wash out the filth, and thus achieving one type of improvement projects in the landscape!

Table oranges and mandarins, whose production exceeds 65,000 tons per year and together with lemons reaches 75-80 thousand tons are some of the major cultivations of Ilia. These high quality products grow earlier compared to the production of other counties giving them a competitive advantage in market terms. The majority of the products are exported to the European and especially the Russian market.
From the most dynamic cultivations are also the watermelons. The production of the county (the first in the country) is 220-240 thousand tons per year, not counting the 10-11 thousand tons of melons. Ilia’s watermelons are considered as highest quality products and are largely exported in European markets over the last 15 years.
Excellent quality are also the strawberries produced mainly in Vouprasia at North-West of Ilia prefecture. This is a constantly rising cultivation and its production now stands at 5000 tons. The excellent quality, early harvest, and product certification is the best passport for overseas markets.